Is Marvel’s Avengers In Financial Trouble Already?

Here’s an interesting rumor: Bleeding Cool is reporting that Marvel Studios – known for locking actors into multiple-movie-deals at cut-rate prices, as well as being unafraid to recast roles (Iron Man‘s James Rhodes, Hulk‘s Bruce Banner) whenever they feel the need – has set the budget for 2012’s The Avengers surprisingly low. The site’s Rich Johnston puts the amount at “not far off what Sony paid to make their first Spider-Man film” which translates as somewhere around $139 million, lower than Iron Man 2. There’s the chance he’s fudging details; he dates Spider-Man to 2004, which is when Spider-Man 2 was released, with a budget of $200 million.

He continues,

Some people say it can’t be done. Others say it can be done – even if then, in certain well heeled Los Angeles bars, they assure each other that it can’t. And while some people have walked off, others are planning a longer game. Basically do the work, then when they run out of budget (which they believe they will) trust that Marvel Studios and their investors will pony up the extra necessary cash rather than leave the movie unfinished.

According to Johnston, this budget move has delayed pre-production on the movies for an unspecified time. If any of this is true, does it endanger the release date of the movie – and if so, how happy will corporate parent Disney be about that, considering they’ve just paid a ridiculous amount of money for the right to distribute it?